Problem Solving in Organizations A Methodological Handbook for Business and Management Students

Introduction

One of the operational goals of production processes is to meet the quality criteria for the goods produced. These criteria concern, for example, a product's reliability, functionality or resistance to wear. If a product does not meet its quality criteria, it loses much of its value. The same holds for field problemsolving (FPS) projects. Executing a problem-solving project can also be interpreted as a production process. The deliverables of this production process are defined in the assignment (see Chapter 4). This chapter discusses the researchoriented quality criteria for the products of a problem-solving project.

Problem-solving projects can be evaluated on several criteria. We make a distinction between research-oriented criteria and change-oriented criteria. Research-oriented criteria concern the research aspects of problem-solving projects. They concern the quality of the conclusions you draw based on your research on the business system to be improved and its context. These criteria are relevant for description, diagnosis and evaluation. Research-oriented criteria are less important during problem definition, redesign and implementation. Change-oriented criteria, including relevance and the creation of support, are more germane to those latter activities. Change-oriented criteria are discussed in Section 3.9. The present chapter deals only with research-oriented criteria.

Many people say that the ultimate aim of research is to yield true conclusions (Goldman, 1999). Others doubt whether truth is a useful concept, or disagree about the meaning of truth (Lawson and Appignanesi, 1989). In any event, given the fallibility of our knowledge, we can never be sure whether a conclusion is true or not. Therefore, many authors acknowledge that the central aim of research is to strive for inter-subjective agreement (Habermas, 1981; Swanborn, 1996). Inter-subjective agreement refers to consensus between the actors who deal with a research problem. In problem-solving projects, intersubjective agreement is important. For example, inter-subjective agreement on a diagnosis is important in order to secure support for a solution.

Themost important research-oriented quality criteria are controllability, reliability and validity (Swanborn, 1996; Yin, 2003; Gibbert et al., 2008; for an alternative perspective see Guba and Lincoln, 1989). They are important because they provide the basis for inter-subjective agreement on research results. Controllability, reliability and validity pertain to research outcomes – that is, the claims about reality that are based on research. They apply tomeasurements, explanations, conclusions, interpretations, causal models and so on.